Under the Willow
by ovoxogang
Summary: "I know I'm going to die. And I know I should be scared. But I'm not. I'm not, now that Katniss is here. Even though we are in the arena, Katniss is my friend. And she'll be here with me. I don't need to worry. She'll be here with me. Right until the very end." Rue's death in her pov.


_**Under the Willow**_

**This is just something I wrote really quick right after I wrote "Three Fires", which is a chapter in my "Raised to Fight, Born to Die" story about Cato and Clove's version of the Hunger Games. Please R&R!**

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I have never run this fast in my entire life.

My lungs are burning with hot searing fire and I think they are about to explode. My feet are sore. I have a stitch in my side. But I can't give up.

If I give up, I let Katniss down.

And if I let Katniss down, the Careers win. And that's not happening on my watch.

The original plan was to set three fires, and leave time in between to let the Careers travel to each one. Obviously, by the time they see the smoke rising from the second fire I just lit they will begin to suspect a trap.

I dart up the nearest tree as I hear voices echoing through the forest. Cato, the biggest one, bursts through the bushes right when I secure myself in the tree directly above him. Then Clove and the boys from districts One and Three follow. The four of them look around the clearing.

"Nothing," Cato says in disbelief. "Nothing."

"_Seriously!_" Clove explodes, kicking a rock in the dirt.

The boy from One starts to examine the ground for any sign of tracks. Now I'm glad I took the time at the last minute to cover my footprints.

I do not linger any longer.

I look directly ahead of me at the closest tree branch. It is thick enough to support what little weight I have. I fling myself over onto the branch, quickly looking down to make sure the Careers haven't noticed me moving only twenty feet above them.

What if they see me?

No. I can't think like that. Not if I want the Careers dead. I keep darting forward, branch to branch, tree to tree. Soon I get far enough away from them and I climb down and start to run, not taking time to cover my tracks this time. If they see my footprints, it would be better, in fact. Then they'd concentrate on my trap and not on Katniss.

I know she'll blow up the supplies.

My heart is beating double-time. It's pretty scary when you think about it. Bloodthirsty kids five years older than you. Five times faster than you. Twenty times stronger than you. Just as smart as you.

And don't forget they'll do anything to kill you.

I feel like my mind isn't working properly anymore. The thoughts inside it are rushed, panicked, cut off. They are racing around in my brain without really giving me a chance to actually know what those thoughts are. All I can register in my scattered mind is that if I don't keep running, Katniss could be killed by the worst people to be killed by.

But then everything freezes. I'm running and running when all of a sudden I feel something snare my ankle, and, as if in slow motion, I trip and the ground comes toward me. _Thump. _And then I scream the first name that comes to my mind.

"Katniss! _Katniss_!"

Then I shut up. If the Careers can hear me, I'm done for. Instead I struggle, my hands going all over the net that has ensnared me, trying to find some way to escape this dreadful nightmare.

Then I hear my name. "Rue! Rue! I'm coming!"

The only person in this arena who would say that is Katniss. I don't need to worry. Katniss is coming for me. Strong relief fills me as I wait for Katniss's arrival.

But then I hear a very distant yell. A girl's voice. Katniss again?

Then I hear the same thing again, but this time the yell is coming from a louder, deeper voice. And I know that isn't the voice of Peeta Mellark.

It's Clove and Cato.

Clove yells again, and I can understand her now. "Marvel!"

Marvel? The boy from One?

Then it feels like a deadweight settles in the pit of my stomach. Marvel. The boy with the nets in training. This is his net.

Then I know that somewhere, somehow, Marvel knows his net has caught another tribute.

And that tribute is _me._

A muscular boy enters the clearing, and now I know screaming was a deadly mistake. Before I can react to his appearance, Marvel throws one of his spears directly at me.

A piercing, agonizing pain shoots through my torso. A moan escapes my mouth. I feel like someone sliced me in half; the pain in my chest is literally unbearable, and I have to clamp my eyes shut because I cannot take it.

I vaguely register a figure above me. A girl with a bow. "Are there more?"

I have to think a little before I understand her. "No!"

But she doesn't hear me and repeats the question right away, her voice shaking with panic. "_Are there more?!_"

"No! No, there aren't!"

I roll over onto my side, curled into a ball. My hand reaches toward Katniss and she grabs my hand, hers warm and sweaty.

"You blew up the food?" I whisper, hope filling my body, my blood, my bones.

Katniss nods. "Every last bit."

"You have to win," I croak. I can't even fathom the thought of Clove stabbing Katniss, her cold dead body lying on the ground for the whole country to see. The very thought freezes my heart and I start to panic.

"I'm going to," Katniss says, her voice filled with a new kind of determination that warms my heart. "Going to win for both of us now," she says, her voice cracking on the last word.

We both hear a cannon, and I panic. "Don't go," I say frantically.

And then all of a sudden I'm back home, back in the golden fields of District Eleven. Quick flashes of memories swarm my tired mind. Climbing a tree. Petting a mockingjay. Singing with my sisters and brothers, our voices carrying loud and clear for all the birds to hear.

"Sing," I say quietly. I know I'm going to die. I can feel it. I've lost too much blood. And I know I should be scared. But I'm not. I'm not, now that Katniss is here. When I go, I want to be able to hear my favorite thing in the world, the thing that was my only salvation.

Music.

A cough escapes from Katniss. She clears her throat, and after a moment's hesitation, I hear her beautiful voice start to sing.

_Deep in the meadow_

_Under the willow_

_A bed of grass_

_A soft green pillow_

_Lay down your head_

_And close your sleepy eyes_

_And when they open_

_The sun will rise_

The words bring peace. My mind is empty, but it is still clinging on to every syllable that makes the mockingjays up above fall silent. The voice that is so beautiful, so full of pain, so full of love. The voice of a person who, if we were not in the arena, would be my friend.

_Here it's safe_

_Here it's warm_

_Here the daisies_

_Guard you from every harm_

Even though we are in the arena, Katniss is my friend. And she'll be here with me. I don't need to worry. She'll be here with me.

Right until the very end.

_Here your dreams are sweet_

_And tomorrow _

_brings them true_

I close my eyes.

_Here is_

_the place _

_where _

_I _

_love _

_you_

**I'll be updating my other stories soon, so keep an eye out. Reviews help!**


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